The Hub: creative directory

Posts Tagged ‘Creative Director’

Fiverr and Ad Age have launched a design competition that challenges designers and copywriters to create an NYC subway ad for C/I, a non-profit that helps underserved communities thrive in the Tech industry. The contest is open to any individual, brand or advertising agency from any country. The winning submission will run in over 300 NYC subway platforms this summer.Read more

Submit a creative, eye-catching design that captures the importance of C/I for underserved students. The winning design for C/I’s first-ever ad campaign will create awareness of the organization and compel people to take action. Judging will take place in early May.

In Design to Grow, a Coca-Cola senior executive shares both the successes and failures of one of the world’s largest companies as it learns to use design to be both agile and big.

In this rare and unprecedented behind-the-scenes look, David Butler and senior Fast Company editor, Linda Tischler, use plain language and easy-to-understand case studies to show how this works at Coca-Cola-and how other companies can use the same approach to grow their business.Read more

“Big and fast, complex and focused, large scale and agile. These seem like oxymorons in the world of business innovation,” commented Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO. “Using examples from the history of Coca-Cola, David Butler and Linda Tischler show how it is possible to embrace these tensions through the use of design. Reading Design to Grow has caused me to think differently about my company. I am confident it will do the same for how you think about yours.”

Butler and Tischler use a variety of case studies both inside and outside Coke-including BlackBerry and iPhone, Kodak’s market stumbles, Lego bricks, and Healthcare.gov-to illustrate clearly why we need to change how we think about “design”. They tap into current business trends of “disruptive innovation” and the “lean startup” movement, and they elucidate why truly good design goes far beyond eye-catching packaging and colorful commercials.

Marsala was a hit on the Spring 2015 runways with fashion designers featured in the PANTONE Fashion Color Report Spring 2015; Daniel Silverstain, Hervé Léger by Max Azria and Dennis Basso incorporated the hue into their collections. The impactful, full-bodied qualities of Marsala make for an elegant statement color when the color is used on its own or as a compelling accent when paired with many other colors.

CAMP Festivalis a 2-day conference about creativity, art, design and technology happening on September 8-9 in Calgary, Canada. With many top-notch storytellers like Stefan Sagmeister, GMUNK and our beloved James White, this festival on its first edition, looks quite promising and inspiring for your creative flux. Time to explore the Digital Wilderness!Read more

With 14 expert-lead presentations and panels, 300+ attendees, endless networking opportunities and a special evening event to boot, CAMP will educate you on the advancements in digital media, push your creativity, and leave you an inspired happy camper.

CAMP is working in partnership with global event producer FITC to bring this awesomeness to town!

CreativeLive will host a free, interactive, multi-day class on negotiation and workplace communication for creative of all stripes – designers, photographers, musicians, actors, etc. Beginning June 23, author, design powerhouse, and entrepreneurTed Leonhardtwill share his expertise over three days of live education designed to help creatives negotiate the salaries they deserve.Read more

Leonhardt will help explore negotiating as a collaboration in which creatives guide those they are negotiating with. Students will learn how to use time and context to define opportunities, create contracts instead of proposals, and align people with their vision. “Creatives are vastly underpaid, vastly undervalued for what they contribute,” explains Leonhardt, “what I’ve learned is that knowing the value of your expertise and how to leverage it is the most powerful foundation for negotiating a great deal with anybody.”

Art directors are becoming animators. Print designers are becoming web designers. Illustrators are now photographers who also edit and shoot film. Adobe has launched a new campaign, I Am The New Creative, that highlights the work of these new creatives: profiling one creative each day and using their amazing imagery to “take over” every social media channel that touches Adobe’s creative tools and technologies.Read more

With the Creative Cloud our product teams have removed the barriers to creative expression: Designers can build parallax HTML5 experiences. Illustrators are making EPUBs. Photographers are using their cameras and Adobe technology to become filmmakers. And coders have the tools to make beautiful design.

It’s an amazing and interesting time in our industry; people have the ability to self-express, in any discipline, without boundaries. I Am The New Creative promotes the amazing work our community is producing and marks this moment in time as a movement and a celebration of creativity.

One of the most incredible aspects of this program has been watching creative professionals merge their mediums and their portraits to produce “New Creatives” versions of themselves.

There’s something magical about the compositions. As a designer there’s always a part of me in my work, but to personalize my work in this way, to make my work more representative of me, presents an alternative perspective. All of the artists we’re working with are enjoying this experience and are appreciative of our desire to promote their amazing creative output.

The Society for Experiential Graphic Designwill host a webinar featuring EGD research insights for healthcare campus and facility design. Metrics for Healthcare Environments will cover master planning, nomenclature, information design, and patient/user experience from leading design professionals.
The session will start out with an overview of the current state of the healthcare industry with a focus on how regulatory measurements have shifted to align healthcare design practice with the measurable effectiveness of facility performance and overall patient/user satisfaction. We will then discuss the design methodologies employed when planning comprehensive patient experiences in complex healthcare facilities and campuses. We will then shift to the scale of the user and look at the mechanisms that designers are using to create effective and holistic communication and interactive platforms for administrators, visitors, and users alike.

Signage plays a critical and ubiquitous role in how we orient ourselves within our built environment. Adopting an active and creative role, these supporting graphic markers elicit a deeper exploration of the interiority of a place. These compact icons also double as a strategic branding mechanism, introducing an engaging and memorable component between points A and B.Read more

Effective and compelling signage achieves a challenging balance between standing out and blending in. Separated into two sections, You Are Here traces some of the world’s most inventive interpretations and applications of wayfinding models today.

Communication Arts magazine has revealed the winners of its 20th annual Interactive competition. Thirty-eight projects were selected by a jury of creative professionals, out of 1,333 entries were submitted to the competition.

Fritz Kahn was a German doctor, educator, popular science writer, and information graphics pioneer whose brilliant work has all but fallen into oblivion. Chased out of Germany by the Nazis, who banned and burned his books, Kahn emigrated to Palestine, then France, and finally the United States to continue his life’s work.Read more

Though his achievements were numerous, the most notable was the development of creative visualizations to explain complex scientific ideas. Published on the 125th anniversary of Kahn’s birth and destined to bring his work back into the spotlight, this monograph features more than 350 illustrations with extensive captions, three original texts by Fritz Kahn, a foreword by Steven Heller, and an essay about Kahn’s life and oeuvre.

Wacom has unveiled a pressure-sensitive digital pen for sketching, drawing and painting on an iPad. The Intuos Creative Stylus works seamlessly with the iPad and a series of creative apps, providing an authentic experience for whenever inspiration strikes.Read more

Designed for the iPad 3, 4 and Mini, the Intuos Creative Stylus is compatible with popular creative apps such as Autodesk SketchBook Pro for iPad, ArtRage, Bamboo Paper, ProCreate and Psykopaint. The Intuos Creative Stylus’s advanced technology comes in form of a best-in-class pen experience and pressure sensitivity of 2048 pressure levels. This means that it can reproduce the feel and artistic control of traditional brushes and markers, so it’s ideal for sketching, illustrating and image editing.

RC Cars of Boston just moved into a new retail store conveniently located at 471 Eastern Avenue Malden, MA 02180. I was provided the unique task of developing and designing their identity including logo, stationery, advertising, outdoor signage, etc. All the deliverables included creative direction, copywriting, art direction and design.

They are a local hobby shop offering a full line of RC Cars, Parts and Accessories including: Traxxas, H.P.I, Arrma, LOSI, and Team Associated vehicles, aluminum parts, RPM parts, nitro fuel and all accessories. Stop by and take advantage of the TRAXXAS Power Up programs — and check out our Traxxas test drive facility, where you can test drive a Traxxas vehicle before you buy it.

This past week I finished a photo shoot in Missouri with a great photographer named Topher Cox. Topher grew up in New York City where he learned his photography skills from the world around him. His father was a photographer and his mother was an art director. As a child his life was on sets, where he absorbed the workings of a photo shoot at the same time he was learning to walk and talk.

Topher continued his photo education by assisting some of New York’s top photographers. Again, he learned by watching and doing. Although he is working as a photographer on his own now he still feels that you never stop learning.

Corbis CRAVE is a new digital boutique that features expertly curated imagery from industry-leading commercial and editorial photographers.

“Corbis CRAVE provides creative directors and art buyers a search and ideation experience tailored to their unique and specific needs whether they’re accessing the collection on their iPad or through the website,” explained Edie Tobias, senior vice president of commercial products at Corbis.

For creative momentum on the go, the Corbis CRAVE app puts the finest images front and center and gives creatives powerful search and lightbox functionality to advance their creative visions whether face-to-face with a client or waiting to catch a flight.

Corbis CRAVE is also a venue for creative professionals to explore and be inspired by the work of some of the most sought-after commercial photographers in the world via featured portfolios – while providing a seamless user experience as they develop their own projects from storyboard to execution.

Adobe has unveiled the Adobe Photoshop CC at MAX 2013 as part of a major update to Adobe Creative Cloud. The new version pushes the boundaries of possibility, offering a powerful new creative process, legendary imaging magic, and greater creative freedom with new tools and workflows.

Adobe’s desktop apps, including Photoshop, were previously known as Creative Suite (CS), and will now be branded CC to reflect that they are an integral part of Creative Cloud. Photoshop CC includes a wide range of innovative enhancements, including new image deblurring and sharpening features to improve design workflows, and new Camera Raw capabilities. This update combines Photoshop standard and Photoshop Extended features.

“With the ability to quickly deliver new innovations, we’re empowering photographers and creatives to push the boundaries in digital imaging and design,” commented Winston Hendrickson, vice president of products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe.

“Our customers will no longer have to wait 18 to 24 months to access new Photoshop innovation. When a new Photoshop feature is ready – whether it’s the next Healing Brush or something as mind-blowing as Content Aware Fill – we’ll deliver it via Creative Cloud.”

ON-TYPE: Texts on Typography, on view at the Bauhaus Archive from May 8 to August 5, 2013, is an interactive exhibition conveying milestones from the history of typography over more than 100 years.

The exhibition will offer a multisensory experience of the way in which one font is never equivalent to another. It will present classics of type design from the twentieth century, such as Bauhaus and Swiss typography, as well as postmodern standpoints and topical examples.

ON-TYPE: Texts on Typography will gather together central theories, manifestos and stocktaking accounts of twentieth-century typography in the German-speaking countries and will present font patterns and insider typography magazines.

The central figures involved and important debates in the history of typography are also introduced – such as debates about legibility, about writing with small initial letters in German, and on the effects of digitization.

Ogilvy & Mather and Director Jonathan Notaro of Brand New School are calling out the history of humanity’s tooth-cleaning habits with their spot for Philips Sonicare, “Stick with Technology” for their Odyssey campaign. The time-travelling spot raises the question of why, at a time when human beings adopt technology to every element of their lives at an exponential rate, does 72% of the US population continue to scour our teeth with what are essentially bristles on a stick?

The spot was created as an “Odyssey” through time, with detailed attention to determining the appropriate eras and vignettes to shoot through the time warp, as well as the accompanying sets, locations, acting and wardrobe.

“We wanted the actor to literally ‘brush his way through time’,” said Notaro. “So we practically tethered the actor to the camera/dolly and dragged them through the various period-specific scenes.”

The Philips films were shot on location in Budapest, including a Victorian train station with a locomotive, as well as on studio lots with constructed medieval sets. In order to get the most realistic results while minimizing the use of CG, the wardrobe animation was shot on green screen mannequins with garments run across them. The team also developed other complex animations using stop motion techniques at the BNS film studio stateside.

Nearly 4 months into the new year and it has been very productive so I wanted to highlight a couple of interests. Just before the doors closed on 2012 I was fortunate to reengage with a local entrepreneur who opens businesses that many of us just dream about. Naturally anyone creative would want to be a part of his vision/s so I met with owner Ray Willis to discuss ideas surrounding his new business – RC Cars of Boston. We collaborated previously on his identity for Spadafora Choppers so RC Cars of Boston purposefully ties strongly to the Spadafora brand. Spadafora Choppers was a big success so I’m hoping as this new identity continues rolling out it will be matched with equal excitement and praise.

For the past few years I’ve also been working with a great organization named Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program. It’s a dedicated team of highly motivated individuals coming together for a great cause. Colleagues I’ve worked with in the past recommended the opportunity which was a chance to give back and help those less fortunate. My charge was to help call to attention and promote an annual sock drive also supported by the Boston Red Sox. I designed a unique logo “One Size Fits All” which was applied to posters, direct mail and online. Additionally I’ve worked with BHCHP to design their marathon T-Shirts each year so it’s more than rewarding to produce creative that really makes a difference.

As if borne of a dream, Poetica’s beautifully monochromatic spec film for Trek Bicycles bares the distinct look and feel of a surreal mindscape. The piece, conceptualized by Poetica Creative Director Steve Tozzi and brought to life with the help of CG Director, Lead Animator John Clausing and Senior Flame Artist Aaron Vasquez, is an expressive 3D ode to the rider’s unique connection to the Trek brand.

The film revolves around a cyclist traveling through a menagerie of hyper-stylized landscapes, each populated with phantasmagorical cranes, flowers, and more, made up of bicycle parts. However, it also functions as a case study on the capabilities of Softimage, and Arnold, a powerful new 3D CG-rendering program. Poetica rendered some 200-plus passes of CG to bring the stunning images to life with a quick turnaround. Additionally, programs such as Exocortex, Slipstream, and ICE were employed to give the VFX a singularly natural and organic look.

The Art Directors Club has today launched ADC Young Guns For Good to connect top-notch international creative talent with charitable causes to help bridge the gap between the quality of work these charities are doing, and the quality of creative representing them in marketing materials.

The inaugural project for ADC Young Guns For Good is a partnership with Google Creative Lab through which ADC Young Guns artists will design $1 million worth of advertising that will run in USA TODAY to benefit charities involved with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.

Google Creative Lab in New York, recent winner of the USA TODAY 2012 Print Competition, has elected to donate the prize – $1 million in advertising media spend – to focus on charities benefiting Hurricane Sandy relief.

Empire State Relief Fund, Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund and DonorsChoose.org will each be paired up with one ADC Young Gun to develop and execute a full-page color ad in USA TODAY in April. ADC Young Guns will have the opportunity to express interest in participating in the program through March 22.

Aquafadas has released an update to MotionComposer, a software that lets prosumers and professionals easily create Flash or HTML5 animations and interactive content.

The update adds support for audio and a new optimized engine that generates animations compatible with the latest generation of browsers using HTML5.

“MotionComposer 1.6 gives everyone, not just developers, the unlimited ability to create web and eBook animations that can run on any device or browser – without writing a single line of code,” commented Claudia Zimmer, CEO, Aquafadas.

“Users of all skill levels are free to create engaging animated content for their websites, blogs, and self-published eBooks easily with MotionComposer.

And the latest version opens up even more possibilities, now providing multiple export options and the ability to add in audio, making for even more interesting web content.”

Unlike other animation software, MotionComposer does not employ the use of complicated timelines. Its simple-to-use interface features the concept of “slides” and “states,” where each slide is a state of the global animation.

It’s Not Easy Being Green: Two Designers Exploring Sustainability Worldwideis a new publication by Aart van Bezooyen and Paula Rache that brings together six months of making new friends, photographing local impressions and collecting materials. Together with almost 60 designers, entrepreneurs and change-makers from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan they are sharing personal experiences, project examples and local culture to inspire and enable a more sustainable future.

Aart and Paula started the project in 2011 to get a better understanding of the fuzzy concept of sustainability and its role and importance for design. During 184 days, they were exploring a dozen countries to discover sustainable solutions in materials and design worldwide. During their journey they offered inspiring lectures and hands-on workshops to teach and learn about the local issues and practices of designers.

“The book is a MUST for everybody who considers herself or himself a designer of the future,” commented Zuzanna Skalska, a recognized trend researcher who is one of the first readers. With this book Aart and Paula are bringing together the people, places and things they discovered during their travels to share their experiences. Personal contributions from the designers, entrepreneurs and change-makers they met are combined with local impressions and inspiring items discovered along their way. With designers making skateboards out of bamboo, researchers improving packaging products, children doing green studies in the jungle and surprising ways of (re)using materials, this book is an encouraging sustainable snapshot of what is happening in the world today.

Proceeds from the book will go to the Viva con Agua, a charity organization that supports people with clean drinking water worldwide.

Andrea Fischman’s editorial, lifestyle and portrait photography captures life in a natural and warm way, inviting the viewer to share in the experience. Unlike photography that seems to have been created, Andrea’s work seems to have simply happened. Fischman, a Skidmore College graduate, also received professional training at the Rhode Island School of Design, New England School of Photography, the Art Institute of Boston and the International Center of Photography in New York.

MacTribe’s interview series with inspirational photographers continues in our conversation with New York City based shooting ace Andrea Fischman. Andrea’s cutting edge imagery can be seen in the pages of Boston Magazine, PR Week, NY Times, SC Magazine, and more. MacTribe caught up with her recently for an interview about where her artistic direction is moving now and how she sees the photo business in general.

Adobe MAX 2013 will bring together more than 5,000 creative industry leaders, designers, developers, strategists, video professionals and photographers from around the world to exchange ideas, innovations and inspiration.

The event offers a unique opportunity to learn directly from industry and Adobe experts and connect with peers from across industries.

Fjord has released its annual trends predictions, showcasing 10 trends that will shape digital services in 2013. The report forecasts the major shifts that will impact the way we work and live, and offers practical advice to help business leaders interpret the opportunities that lie ahead.

“Our work at Fjord is at the front edge of mainstream, where innovation meets mass-market appeal. This constant presence of ‘new’ feeds our curiosity, and makes exploration a necessity,” commented Olof Schybergson, CEO of Fjord.

“Our trends are one way we give shape to our thoughts on what tomorrow will bring. They offer our clients both inspiration and actionable insights on how to tackle the big issues that will influence their businesses in the year to come.”

The trends point at some recurring themes that weave their way in and out of Fjord’s annual forecasts. Mobile is still changing everything – if anything faster, and now includes new ways of working. Personalization will be a hot topic for success. Finally, data and the success of new systems are tightly bound together. And as ever – for truly great service design – people come first.

“We thought long and hard about how best to use our 50th anniversary as an opportunity honor this talented community,” commented Gordon Kaye, Editor of Graphic Design USA. “We decided that best way to celebrate is to ask readers about their views on some provocative and fun topics because, quite frankly, they know more than we do and we enjoy hearing from them.”

The survey has already been sent to nearly 50,000 graphics professionals in mid-December. Questions run the gamut from favorite identity programs, packages, magazine and album covers, annual and corporate reports, websites and apps, and other design projects; the revolution in tools and technologies; the clash and complement of print and online media; design education and career issues; the changing role of inhouse design; and what the next 50 years of graphic design may look like.

Michael Indresano has been a successful commercial photographer in Boston for over 20 years, collaboratingon advertising campaigns with Boston’s top agencies and creating high impact photography for locally-based brands such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins, New Balance, Reebok, Converse, Puma, Timberland, Rockport, and many other New England footwear/ apparel brands. He was chosen to shoot portraits for the Boston Bruins when they won the 2011 Stanley Cup Championships, and he has been commissioned to produce portraits across a variety of industries, from celebrities to world-class athletes to Fortune 500 CEOs. Michael has been written up in Boston Business Journal and also named one of the “Top 40 Under 40.”